OPENS SEPTEMBER 24, CERT 15, 140 MINS
The disappointment of the year. When Lee’s got game, he makes vibrant films with plenty to say?The 25th Hour was a triumph. But this is disastrous. On every conceivable level it flounders and, halfway through its marathon running time, you’re embarrassed for him.
It can’t decide whether it’s a limp satire on big business or a sex comedy. Jack (Anthony Mackie, for whom oblivion beckons) is fired from a corrupt biotech company for whistle-blowing. He’s persuaded by an ex-girlfriend, now a lesbian, to father kids for her gay friends at $10,000 a tryst. Cue much shagging and dire sperm-egg jokes which Woody Allen would have rejected in the ’70s. Jack’s soon in trouble with the law (framed for fraud) and a gaggle of greedy lesbians. There’s the odd comment on race or gender, but they’re lost in this incohesive mess.
Cameos from John Turturro (as a Mob don), Woody Harrelson, Ellen Barkin and Monica Bellucci lend hope that Lee will rectify the nosedive, but they’re mirages. An utter dog.